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What the Nicolas Batum Trade Means for the Blazers Offseason

By Chris St. Jean

Oct 20, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) watches as the Sacramento Kings shoots a free throw in the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum (88) watches as the Sacramento Kings shoots a free throw in the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the 2015 NBA Draft looming, the NBA offseason couldn’t wait to begin and there has been plenty of player movement over the two weeks leading up to the draft.  Of most importance for Portland Trail Blazers fans was the shocking news that Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday night that the team had traded their starting small forward and core member, Nicolas Batum.

Batum was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for rotation shooting guard, Gerald Henderson, and an intriguing young power forward in Noah Vonleh. The unintended consequence of this move is that immediately the rumor mill began.

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At certain points, fairly deep mind you, into last season, the Portland Trail Blazers considered themselves legitimate championship contenders.  For all intents and purposes, that ended on March 5th when Wesley Matthews went down.

Unfortunately for the Blazers, that bad break happened just months before their franchise power forward would find himself an unrestricted free agent and being courted by any team that had cap room (and some that don’t).

The Blazers could have made keeping the ‘core’ together their top priority this off-season despite the fact that 3 members of the elite starting unit they’ve constructed would be free agents. But before the Draft would even begin, and more than a week before the free agent negotiation period would begin, the Blazers’ GM, Neil Olshey, rolled the dice by unloading what may have been the weak link in that starting unit.

I wrote earlier this year about the struggles of Nicolas Batum. Someone who made a reputation in the league as being a versatile 3-and-D player, struggled with both the 3 and the D leaving only his versatility. The last four seasons, Batum’s 3-point shooting percentage went from 39% to 37% to 36% to 32% and too many Blazers offensive possessions ended with a wide-open miss from the corner by Batum.

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Batum’s defensive ability has also diminished a bit, he may had a bit of an undeserving reputation to begin with, and all of that was exposed at the end of this season after Wesley Matthews went down and the Blazers perimeter defense collapsed.

So by finding a way to move the $12 million annual contract that is attached to Batum (he also has a small trade kicker that made it more difficult to move) to address a position of need and bring in a talented and intriguing 19-year-old seems like a no brainer, right?

Except that almost immediately, fans began speculating that moving a ‘core’ piece like Batum meant that the Blazers are tearing it all down. After all, there is no in between in the NBA Twitterverse.

As he reported the trade, Wojnarowski addressed these issues head on by mentioning that LaMarcus Aldridge was consulted and on board with the Batum trade:

"Despite the impending free agency of All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland didn’t make the trade as a first step in rebuilding, league sources told Yahoo Sports. Aldridge was aware of the deal, sources said. The trade gives Portland greater financial flexibility and an intriuging young talent in Vonleh."

I wrote earlier this week, that with Arron Afflalo opting out and Wesley Matthews asking for $15 million annually coming off a torn achilles, the Blazers may have a glaring need at the shooting guard position.  That need, if it existed, was addressed with this trade.

At $6 million per year for this year only, Henderson provides very close to 100% of what Afflalo did for the Blazers. He’s never been an excellent outside shooter, knocking down only 30% of his 3-point shots on his career, but has found a way to score 12 points per game with some ball-handling and penetration ability and a comfort operating in the mid-range.

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    • But Henderson, although he addresses a need, is not the centerpiece of this deal for the Blazers.  Noah Vonleh had a tough rookie season for the most part last year, but he missed training camp due to a sports hernia, and spent most of the season in the Developmental League.

    Vonleh was considered a similar prospect to Myles Turner last season when he was drafted number 9 overall.  And he won’t even be 20 years old until this off-season and Summer League are a distant memory in our minds during the doldrums of the NBA in August.

    But what does this mean for the Blazers? Are they rebuilding? Are they blowing it up? Did Aldridge sign off on this deal with the intent of mentoring this youngster?

    Less than 24 hours after the trade was made and the most respected NBA writer in the universe (Wojnarowski and I dare you to disagree) claimed that LaMarcus had been informed of the deal and was on board with it, another well-respected NBA writer reported almost the exact opposite. Marc Stein of ESPN is now reporting that LaMarcus Aldridge is as good as gone and will leave Portland in free agency.

    He even added this quote:

    "And Wednesday’s trade of forward Nicolas Batum was an indication, league sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, of Portland’s growing belief that Aldridge is poised to leave in free agency.“He’s gone,” a source close to Aldridge said. “There’s a 99.9 percent chance that he’s out of Portland.”"

    Moving Batum’s contract and Arron Afflalo opting out added around $3 million in cap space. That’s enough cap flexibilty for Portland to pair another max-contract-level free agent with Aldridge this off-season. I argued that it should be DeAndre Jordan. So Portland will have plenty of options whether or not Aldridge stays or goes.

    I find it hard to believe that Aldridge was not consulted in the Nicolas Batum trade. So either Marc Stein is reporting falsehood’s or the Blazers already are aware that he’s leaving and they are preparing to reload with talent. All the options are open for the Blazers now in the draft and free agency and yet so much is tied to Aldridge’s decision.

    If you’re a Blazers fan, you should hope they know what he’s doing.

    Next: Trail Blazers Draft Profile: Justin Anderson

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